Saucon Secrets

A Positive Vortex in Hellertown

Lee Weidner says he's encountered positive energy in the area of the Saucon Rail Trail.

Some people believe that a vortex is a destructive force that draws one into it. Others hold the opposite view, i.e., a vortex is a whirling, powerful force that enables one to find a good place of one's own where truth is revealed. Some folks believe in angelic beings sent by a loving God to deliver a saving message. At times the angel can be in human form and sometimes be represented by an animal. I believe in God and his angels. My own positive vortex is three blocks from my home on Main Street, Hellertown, due west in a wooded area familiarly known as the Cinderbanks or first home of the Saucon Iron Company begun in 1866. There at the same spot now occupied by Rails to Trails I have encountered three angels within the last seven years…

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Saucon Secrets

Northampton County's 19th Century Iron Rush

Among the local companies founded during and after the Civil War were the Saucona Iron Company and the Coleraine Iron Company.

Many locals have been bewildered by the difference between the Saucon Iron Company and the Saucona Iron Company. Over the years I have known of at least two people. Allow me to clarify clearly once and for all. For you doubters out there, of course I'm promoting interest in local history and my next book. Smoke that in your pipes, but avoid polluting the neighborhood. As the reader knows, this writer is rather good at digging himself a deeper hole as he goes. However, these three fine fellows are better: Benjamin LeRoy Miller, Donald McCoy Fraser and Ralph LeRoy Miller. The first penned "Geology and Geography," the second "Pre-Cambrian Geology" and the third "Jacksonburg Formation," all relating to Northampton County, in 1939. This light …

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Local Company Submits Slag Removal Proposal

Material Recovery LLC would relocate and remove slag from the Thomas Iron Works site, Hellertown Borough Council solicitor Michael Corriere said July 2.

A local company has submitted a proposal for the removal and relocation of slag iron ore deposited at the Thomas Iron Works site, Hellertown Borough Council solicitor Michael Corriere told council July 2. Corriere said Material Recovery LLC of Lower Saucon Township has submitted a $9,000 proposal to relocate a number of large slag mounds near the Saucon Creek--remnants of an earlier industrial era in the borough. He explained that the slag has hindered the disbursement of water following heavy rains, exacerbating flooding along the already flood-prone waterway. The slag would be "relocated so the flood plain would be provided for in a more appropriate fashion," Corriere said. The company has offered to grind up the slag and remove much of …

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Solicitor: Slag Bids Are 'Currently in Negotiation'

In response to a question from a member of the public, Hellertown Borough Council solicitor Michael Corriere confirmed June 18 that negotiations are underway for the sale of slag from the Thomas Iron Works site.

Slag is a byproduct of iron production, and Hellertown has tons of it, piled in large mounds at the site of the former Thomas Iron Works near the Saucon Creek. On June 18, Borough Council solicitor Michael Corriere confirmed that the borough is "currently in negotiations" to sell some or all of the slag that is a remnant of Hellertown's almost forgotten industrial era. Responding to a question from resident Linda Lee Wright, of Juniper Road, Corriere said he's "not even sure anything's going to happen" with the negotiations. He did not say how long negotiations have been underway, or speculate on how long they might continue. "Once there is a valid contract (for the sale of slag), then it will be discussed and voted on in public," Corriere…

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